Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009

Rams sign ex-Bills long snapper to deal

St. Louis passes on East grad Hodel

ST. LOUIS -- In his two seasons with the Buffalo Bills, new St. Louis Rams long snapper Ryan Neill snapped the ball under some of the worst weather conditions imaginable.

"I played in probably the windiest game in the history of the NFL," Neill said. "We played in New England last year in the last game of the season. I think it was Dec. 31. It was 50 mph sustained winds with 70 mph wind gusts. I didn't have a bad snap."

Then there was the game in 2007 -- now known as the Snowbowl -- between the Bills and the Cleveland Browns at Browns Stadium.

"My first year I played in Cleveland in a blizzard with 50 mph winds and whiteout snow," Neill said. "That was the tougher of the two games just because you couldn't see the line markers."

So Neill naturally was thrilled to see that the Rams will be playing six of their nine games remaining this season in domed stadiums, including five in the Edward Jones Dome.

"When I saw the schedule, it's definitely a nicer looking schedule weather-wise," Neill said.

Neill won the job as the replacement for long snapper Chris Massey, who sustained a season-ending knee injury last Sunday, in a battle with three other long snappers during a workout on Monday.

Belleville East graduate Nathan Hodel was one of the other long snappers who took part in the workout.

Neill, the youngest of the four long snappers, said he was intimidated by the group workout.

"I was kind of getting accustomed to it," Neill said. "After I was released from Buffalo in the preseason, I had a workout with Tennessee, San Diego and Cincinnati and now down here in St. Louis. I was getting used to that three- or four-guy type of thing."

Punter Donnie Jones and kicker Josh Brown also were on hand for the workout.

"Ultimately, we didn't make the decision, they did," Jones said of the Rams management. "I was happy with the decision that they made."

Jones said Neill reminded him the most of Massey.

"I think out of all the guys, he was the closest to Chris in how he threw the ball on field goals, the timing we kind of had," Jones said. "It's going to be hard to replace Chris. Just working with him for 2 1/2 years, getting that timing down, now all of the sudden, boom, he's hurt, he's out, and we have to adjust."

Neill said he started long snapping as a junior in high school, but he came to the NFL from Rutgers University as a defensive end.

"Bobby April, the special teams coach up there, was really the one who talked me into getting into snapping career-wise," Neill said. "He said it gave me the opportunity to have a long career. That's what got me serious about snapping."

Neill spent the 2006 on the Bills' practice squad, but he played in every game as a long snapper in 2007 and 2008.

Neill said he also saw about 80 snaps as a defensive end in pass-rushing situations in 2007.

"Toward the end of the year, my hand was getting banged up a little and it was getting harder to snap a spiral," Neill said.

Neill became strictly a long snapper last season. The Bills asked him to shed 20 pounds, and he complied, going from 260 pounds to 240 pounds.

Neill said the lower weight probably means his days as a defensive end are over.

"It's a little tougher to play the run at 240 pounds than it was at 260," Neill said.

Rams notes

Defensive end C.J. Ah You (high ankle sprain) and guard Richie Incognito (Lisfranc foot injury) didn't participate in practice on Wednesday... Offensive lineman John Greco was excused from practice because of a family matter... The Rams' captains for this week are wide receiver Keenan Burton on offense, defensive end James Hall on defense and linebacker Paris Lenon on special teams... Wide receiver Ruvell Martin was able to participate fully in practice for the first time since injuring his hamstring three weeks ago...